Back to School
Does my child have a cold or is it allergies?
People can be allergic to animals, insects, foods, or components of the outdoors. Some allergies cause people to sneeze, have itchy eyes and a runny nose while other allergies can be life threatening. While it may not always be easy to determine if your child is suffering from a viral illness that is causing cold symptoms or experiencing allergies, there are some distinct differences between the common cold and allergies.
Important details to remember:
Allergies are not contagious while the common cold can be spread to others. Either way . . . it is still important to wash hands after blowing your nose or sneeze!
There are some medications that may help alleviate allergy symptoms, but antibiotics or other medications do not cure a common cold.
If your child develops a fever, he or she should remain home until being fever free for 24 hours without using any medications.
Check out this helpful chart from healthychildren.org:
